-57f 



V 





litirc^ u 




Wiit Hure of Ealamajoo 

A Pictorial Presentation of Its Many Ad- 
vantages for Industrial, Commercial, 
and Residential Life in 1912 



Compiled by 

THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 



^econlJ Cbition 

Text by Louis H. Conger 

Photos by G. W. Austin, Henry Dornbush, Louis H. Conger, and others 

Halftones by Crescent Engraving Co. Paper by Rivervievv Coated Paper Co. 

Cover stock by Kalamazoo Paper Co. Printed by Ihling Bros. Everard Co. 



3n Halama^Do 






K 



Copyrighted 1912 by 
THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 

Kalamazoo, Michigan 



D. of Do 
IVIAY 23 1916 



What the Kalamazoo of 1 9 1 2 Actually Contains 




ILL be shown so far as space permits in this modest pubHcation, 
and on this account the historical side of Kalamazoo's develop- 
ment, rich in interest, must be ignored. To set forth in just terms 
the many factors contributing to a tremendous industrial and 
commercial development, our transportation facilities and breadth 
of market; to tell of our great educational institutions, our parks, our beau- 
tiful homes and shaded streets, — would require an imposing volume. We 
must content ourselves with a mere glimpse of Kalamazoo, and must leave 
untouched vastly more than we have shown. 

Kalamazoo invites the world at large to come and see the city, to inves- 
tigate its matchless opportunities for commerce and industry, its superior 
qualities as an abiding place. If you desire to share in the good things we 
have or care for the surroundings of convenience and culture, come to Kala- 



mazoo. 




i-^'v- i 




Titus Bronson House, 1829 



Main Street Before the War 



Main Street in 1912 



With the first ghmpse of Kalamazoo from the bluffs which surround it, 
one scarcely wonders that Titus Bronson chose this beautiful spot for his home 
when he first beheld it in 1829. Here, where the Portage enters the Kala- 
mazoo, the narrow valleys widen into a vast natural amphitheater on whose 
broad floor he the rich lands which later made Kalamazoo's fame world-wide. 
An abundance of springs and little streams of purest water was there, and it 
had long been a favorite camp for Indians, who called it "Ki-Kalamazoo, 
or the "Place of the Boiling Pot." So within a stone's throw of the mound 
which still mutely testifies to the similarly keen judgment of that mysterious 
people, the Mound Builders, the first white man built his home. 

Almost a century later, this grand stage with its setting of tall buildings 
and busy factories displays a monument to pioneer forethought. The streams 
they welcomed now help to operate giant paper mills, the same forest now 
shades the man-made streets, while from the hillcrests imposing homes and 
stately institutions of learning ever look down into the busy scenes of com- 
merce and industry below. 

4 



Ideal as is the site of Kalamazoo for its development into a beautiful 
city, the greatest natural advantage lies in its geographical location. Michi- 
gan has long enjoyed the prestige of being one of the most richly endow^ed 
of the states in agricultural and mineral wealth, in this respect ranking far 
above the seventh place in the Union to which its population entitles it. In- 
dustrially it ranks as high, and its strategic position between the great East 
West water and rail routes, has resulted in a tremendous development in 
manufacturing in recent years. From a climatic viewpoint the state is singu- 




G. R. & I. Depot 



M. C. Depot 



larly favored, and its girdle of fresh-water seas and myriads of smaller lakes 
long ago made it a summer playground and the Mecca of the tourist and 
sportsman. 

These considerations proved their worth during the past decade when 
the lure of the West caused an actual decrease of population in many of the 
neighboring states. Michigan showed a seventeen per cent increase, while 
the 1910 census figures showed a sixiy-ihree per cent increase in population 
in Kalamazoo during the preceding ten years. 

With nearly fifty thousand population in 1912, Kalamazoo justly ranks 
as the fourth city in Michigan and the first city in the southwestern section 

5 




South Burdick Street Panorama 



of the state. Fifty miles northward toward Grand Rapids, fifty miles south- 
ward to the state line, and forty miles westward to the shores of Lake Michi- 
gan, the richest counties of Michigan, point with pride to Kalamazoo as their 
metropolis. There is no city of equal importance to the eastward until 
Detroit is reached, 1 44 miles away, Chicago being almost exactly the same 
distance to the west. Kalamazoo's unquestioned supremacy in Southwestern 
Michigan gives a broad market which is a potent factor in the present com- 
mercial prosperity. A permanent guaranty of Kalamazoo's position in this 
field is found in the importance its seven railroads give. The double-tracked 
Michigan Central and the Grand Trunk give the best of east and west serv 
ice. North and south, Kalamazoo has the Grand Rapids & Indiana and the 
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. The Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw, 
the Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago, and the South Haven Division of 
the Michigan Central are the feeder lines into the territory not touched by the 
four trunk lines. These roads radiate in ten directions from the city like the 
spokes of a wheel, and the passenger service is such that residents everywhere 
within a radius of fifty miles can conveniently spend the day in Kalamazoo 
and return home in the evening. Twenty west-bound, 1 9 east-bound, 1 6 
north-bound and 1 5 south-bound trains give the city a total of 7 1 passenger 
trains daily. 

As important as any of these is the main line of the Michigan United 
Traction Company with through cars every hour as far east as Detroit. 
Branches extend to Gull Lake and Lansing, and work is being pushed on the 
extension northward to Grand Rapids. Kalamazoo is destined to be the 
interurban center of Western Michigan as it already is for the railroads. 

7 



With these great arteries into every section of Michigan and the sur- 
rounding states, it is not surprising that Kalamazoo ranks high as a convention 
city, if for no other reason than its accessibihty. Conventions are always 
numerically successful here, for, whether the delegates come from east or west, 
north or south, Kalamazoo is readily accessible to all. Kalamazoo's record is 
a convention a week, and the city has become educated in the treatment and 




Main and Rose Streets 



handling of them. There is a magnificent array of splendid hotels; a long 
list of excellent restaurants, and a goodly quantity of capacious lodging-houses. 
It happens so often that we have acquired the art, to use a homely expression, 
of "bulging out" and "shrinking up" to fit the size of the crowd. All have a 
good time while they are here and go away happy and with pleasing recollec- 
tions of their sojourn. 

The first impression of the traveler entering Kalamazoo, as his train 
threads through a labyrinth of freight yards and between huge factories, is of 
a great inland metropolis, and the skyscrapers which appear as he nears the 
center of the city confirm this aspect. Broad streets lined on either side with 
business blocks lead from the depots to the heart of the city, only a short 
distance away. 

Finding a good hotel, that bugbear of the visitor in so many cities, is never 
a problem in Kalamazoo. There are twenty-two hotels in the city, furnishing 
accommodations to satisfy the most exacting. Three fire-proof hostelries of the 
most modern type cater to the most exclusive trade, while the range of rates 
provides comfortable quarters at even the most modest outlay. Eight of these 

8 



hotels are on the American plan, and the remaining base their rates on the 
European plan. Most of the latter maintain excellent cafes, in addition to 
which there are twenty-seven restaurants in the down-town district. 




Rickman Hotel 

The feature which first impresses one is the aggressive commercialism of 
the city. Fine stores in every line of mercantile business testify to the profit- 
able trade which is enjoyed, and it is the marvel of the visitor that the city can 
support such an array. One department store alone occupies a six-story and 
basement building of 1 50,000 square feet of floor space, and there are other 

9 




mercantile establishments quite as imposing. There are ten men's clothiers; 
eight drygoods houses; twenty-nine shoe dealers; twenty-five druggists; fifteen 
jewelers; one hundred eleven grocers; other lines are represented in equal 
proportion. 

Let it not be assumed that Kalamazoo alone supports this gigantic com- 
mercial structure, unless it is conceded that a municipality of eight and a half 
square miles and 50,000 inhab- 
itants can take in all the terri- 
tory within a radius of fifty 
miles. Every town, every ham- 
let in the ten counties in Kala 
mazoo's immediate vicinity 
pours a steady stream of pat- 
ronage into the city, and the 
actual buying population is 
336,613 souls, according to the 
1910 federal census. With 
the exception of Battle Creek 
with 25,627 inhabitants, and 

Benton Harbor with 9,186, there are no towns in the entire section which 
touch the 6,000 mark, and only eleven cities all told. 

The map evidences clearly how this entire territory looks to Kalamazoo 
as its market-place, for there is not a point within fifty miles where the residents 
can not leave for the city for a day's trading and be home the same day. 
From the east the Michigan Central and the Michigan United bring travelers 
from Albion, Marshall and Battle Creek; the C. K. & S. from Hastings 
and Barry County; the Lake Shore and the Grand Rapids & Indiana from 
Plainwell, Allegan, and Allegan County; the South Haven division of the 
Michigan Central touches a rich territory, while the main line of the Michigan 
Central and the Fruit Belt extend into all the towns of Van Buren and Ber- 
rien counties; the Grand Trunk swings through the territory just to the 
eastward, while the Lake Shore takes care of Schoolcraft, Three Rivers, and 
that section. The G. R. & I. to the south makes the eleventh line radiating 
from Kalamazoo as a center. 

Measured in terms of the city's own resources, Kalamazoo's future great- 
ness is assured, but doubtless the one outside contributing factor in Kalama- 
zoo s tremendous growth is the richness of the surrounding country — a reservoir 
of agricultural wealth which has its outlet in Kalamazoo, the metropolis and 
market-place. 

10 



^^^na f-M 'i I 





Kalamazoo-City Savings Bank 

The banks of the city may be considered the guardians of its people's 
exchequer, and by banking methods which are universally regarded as pro- 
gressive and yet ever reliable, those of Kalamazoo have shared and contributed 
to the city's prosperity in no small measure. Through a series of consolidations 
during recent years, Kalamazoo now^ has four powerful banking institutions^ 
two under national and two under state charters, and there has never been 
a failure among them. Their combined capital and surplus amounts to 
$1,441 ,000, and their combined resources to more than ten millions of dollars, 
as shown by the following table: 

Bank Capital Surplus Resources 

Kalamazoo-City Savmgs Bank. . . .$300,000 $187,000 $4,085,000 

First National 300,000 1 60.000 2,958,000 

Kalamazoo National 200,000 1 1 8,000 2,558,000 

Home Savings 100,000 76,000 1,162,000 

$900,000 $541 ,000 $10,763,000 

Three of these banks possess handsome homes of the most modern type, 
that of the Kalamazoo National being an eight-story fire-proof structure on 
the corner of Main and Burdick Streets. The upper stories are occupied as 
offices by the various professional men of the city. Kalamazoo-City Savings 
Bank is located at Main and Portage Streets, where has been erected a 
banking house second to none in this section. It is built of marble along 
classic lines, and is used exclusively for banking purposes. The Home 
Savings Bank is well housed in a handsome building at 1 15 West Main 

11 



Street, while the First National Bank is occupying temporary quarters during 
the erection of a magnificent building on the corner opposite the Kalamazoo 
National Bank Building. 

The clearings through these banks furnish one of the most surprising 
instances of Kalamazoo's growth. Despite the consolidation of two of the 
largest banks, the clearings increased nearly 300 per cent in the decade pre- 
ceding 1911, when the clearings were $35,664,276. The first five months 
of 1912 show an increase of 15 per cent over those of the preceding year 
until May 1st, when the First National and the Michigan National were 
consoHdated under the charter of the First National Bank. 

Month 1911 1912 

January $3,059,482 $3,351,364 

February 2,486,789 2,831,887 

March 3,028.908 3,165,576 

April 2,773,914 3,434,856 

May 3,299,249 3,292,287* 

^Result of consolidation 



Beyond question, the greatest factor in Kalamazoo's growth and pros- 
perity has been its tremendous industrial growth and the phenomenal success 
of practically all the manufacturing enterprises of the city during the past 
decade. In that period, Kalamazoo's investment in factories has been more 
than tripled and most of them are in the "gilt-edged" class as dividend pay- 
ers. It is the world's center of the book paper-making industry, with a host 
of attendant industries; iron, steel, and sheet metal working industries are of 
greatest importance; and in diversity of industry Kalamazoo ranks first in the 
state of Michigan. 




Bryant Paper Co.— One of the Largest Book Mills in the World 



13 



If Kalamazoo had only a few of these "super-successful" industries, it 
might be reasonable to assign their establishment here to accident. But it 
cannot be deemed possible that so many distinctly different classes of man- 
ufacturing should have located in the city, all beginning m a modest way 
and expanding as time went on into notably prosperous concerns, save on 
the hypothesis that Kalamazoo furnishes some special advantages to the 
manufacturer. In its superb shipping facilities, freedom from industrial 
troubles, cheap electric power, and low tax rates is found the answer. 

The transportation facilities afforded by Kalamazoo's seven railroads 
and electric lines cannot be excelled, furnishing as they do the speediest 



General Gas Light Company 

service into every section of the country. Recognizing Kalamazoo's rapid 
growth industrially, the railroads have made every effort to keep pace with 
it in their own facilities, and in the improvements now under way are pre- 
paring to handle the traffic of the Greater Kalamazoo soon to be. 

Part of this facility is due to the fact that Kalamazoo has not, and by 
the very nature of things can never have a terminal problem. Entering and 
leaving the city by different routes, the various roads each have ample room 
for their freight yards, while the existence of a common focus for all the center 
of the city enables rapid handling from one road to another. So convenient 
is this layout that it seems to have been planned by one master-engineer who 
sought only the perfection of symmetry. Through it is handled annually two 
million tons of traffic, the second largest of the cities of Michigan. 

Though the shortest of the seven lines, the Chicago, Kalamazoo & Sagi- 
naw ranks high as a terminal road, and has its sidings into many of the largest 
plants. The Michigan Central, whose double-track main line bisects the city 
east to west, has tremendous yards on both sides of the river and has just 
expended $300,000 in the erection of new freight depots and other shipping 

14 




conveniences. The Grand Rapids & Indiana, the Pennsylvania's greatest 
north and south feeder, has recently spent an equal amount, and maintains a 
branch freighthouse for the South Side industries in addition to its main ter- 
minal. The Grand Trunk Railway has like accommodations, and though 
but recently entering the city from its main line six miles south, it is securing a 
handsome business. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern completes the list 
of these roads which have been making extensive additions to their terminals, 
and in addition to the erection of a new down-town freight depot, has ex- 
pended $200,000 in the development of new yards in the southern part of the 
city. 

The South Haven Division of the Michigan Central and the Kalamazoo, 
Lake Shore & Chicago afford quick service by the rail and water route to 
Chicago and the West. Immense quantities of grapes, peaches, and small 
fruits are handled by them, although their main business is a heavy passenger 
traffic. The Michigan United Traction Company handles a large package 
express business with all cities as far east as Detroit. 

The quality of labor procurable in Kalamazoo is of the highest grade 
and the most reliable in the country. There are many reasons for this, the 
chief of them being the excellent living conditions and other residential ad- 
vantages, the good scale of wages paid and the cordial relations existing 
between employers and employed. Labor troubles are almost unknown in 

15 




1. Kalamazoo Paper Company. 2. Standard Paper Company. 3. Hawthorne Paper Company. 

4. Riverview Coated Paper Company 

16 



Kalamazoo. Male help averages about $2.50 per day, while female labor is 
paid an average of $1 .29. Nearly 9,000 men are employed and more than 
3,000 women, giving an average of one in every four a bread winner. 

The star-like arrangement of the railroads, reaching through practically 
every district of the city, prevents any congestion of manufacturing industries, 
and there is an abundance of sites available for new industries. Locations 
with sidings can be had without increased outlay for these advantages, and the 
city tax rate of one per cent as fixed by charter provision does not prove 
onerous. 




King Paper Company 



It is under these conditions that industrial progress has been such that 
Kalamazoo now boasts of two hundred thirt}) factories of such proportions 
as to receive the annual inspection of the State Bureau of Labor. Sixteen 
millions of dollars are invested in these industries, paper mills and allied 
branches, constituting the largest single classification. Iron and steel working 
industries rank next. The remaining industries are so varied that the enumera- 
tion of but few must suffice. There are three factories manufacturing gas 
lights, two making regalia and lodge supplies, two folding boats, three making 
vehicles, two making fishing rods and sporting goods; mandolins, corsets, pills 
and pharmaceutical supplies, water heaters, automobiles, caskets, electric 
signs, — an endless variety makes up an imposing list. 

The value of products in 1 909, according to Government Census Report, 
was $18,000,000, an increase of 10 per cent a year, which for 1912 would 
give an annual production m excess of $24,000,000. 

The manufacture of paper is Kalamazoo's chief industry, there being 
twelve large mills in the city and ten more in the vicinity which are controlled 
largely by Kalamazoo capital. The twelve local mills are capitalized at 
nearly $4,000,000, but this does not in the least represent the book value of 
their stocks, which are in no instance less than one and one-half times and 
in some, seven times the capitalization. Book and other high-grade papers are 
the chief product, and one mill alone has a daily capacity of 250 tons. All 

17 




Kalamazoo Stove Gonipany 



told, there are 28 machines in the twelve plants, 30 coating machines, and 
the combined daily output is 1 ,200 tons. A visit to one of Kalamazoo's 
great mills will prove intensely interesting to the lay visitor. 

Allied paper industries follow closely in extent and importance, there 
being 24 of considerable size. Two of America's seven playing card fac- 
tories are located here, and there are envelope, paper box, label, stationery, 
and loose-leaf binder firms of large size. The printing trades are well repre- 
sented, their output including calendars, labels, circulars, and office supplies 
of every description. Kalamazoo is a city of unequaled advantages for all 
industries employing paper as a raw material, and the representation of these 
industries is increasing annually. 

Forty concerns are listed under the metal working industries, some of 
their more important products being engines, boilers, motors, steel springs, 
railway supplies, auto accessories of all kinds, enameled tanks, gas lamps and 
gas appliances, trolley wheels, tools, and a multitude of minor products. 
Kalamazoo has the largest "Direct to Consumer" stove works in the world. 
Kalamazoo's products have given the city a trade name for quality^ not only 
throughout the United States, but over the entire world. 

Not only is Kalamazoo well equipped in public utilities, but the quality of 
service rendered by them is of the highest class. With an abundance of 
cheap electric power, an up-to-date gas system, with nearly a hundred miles 
of main, a local telephone system with 6,500 phones in operation, and an 

18 



extensive system of urban car lines, Kalamazoo is better taken care of in these 
respects than many cities of much greater population. The local lines of the 
Michigan United Traction Company are eleven in number and furnish ade- 
quate service to every section of the city. The company also maintains a 
handsome amusement park at Oakwood, just outside the city. 

Municipally owned water and light plants supply Kalamazoo with these 
necessities, and an excellent out-of-politics fire department is maintained. A 
central and five other fire stations house modern equipment for fire fighting 
and the force of fifty men is on duty at all times. The police force numbers 
dforty men and a new $35,000 police station is being erected on a convenient 




Lee & Cady Warehouse 

down town site. Kalamazoo is at present governed by a Mayor and Board of 
-Aldermen, but a more effective scheme is being worked out by a Charter 
Commission elected by the voters under the Home Rule Act of Michigan. 
Their charter will be completed and presented to the electorate during 1912. 

Four express companies maintain offices in Kalamazoo and furnish serv- 
ice scarcely equaled in any section of the Middle West. The enormous ton- 
nages of celery bring them millions of dollars in a year, in addition to that 
furnished by the manufacturers, and their facilities here are in keeping with 
the amount of business which they handle. Both Telegraph Companies are 
represented, and the Michigan State Telephone Company and the Independ- 
ent companies furnish good long distance service. 

Cheap electric power in large quantities is at hand in Kalamazoo through 
the development of water-powers on the Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, and 
Au Sable Rivers. These are controlled by the Commonwealth Power Com- 
pany, which maintains a 6,000 H. P. steam plant in Kalamazoo to reinforce 
the 25,000 H. P. generated at the dams in the immediate vicinity. Rates for 
power run as low as one cent per K. W. hour, and with the completion of long 
distance transmission lines, any quantity will be available. 

19 




Waterworks and Fire Stations 

20 




Western Michigan Normal School 



joints of Snteregt 



KALAMAZOO STATE HOSPITAL 

WEST MICHIGAN NORMAL 
SCHOOL 

KALAMAZOO COLLEGE 

KALAMAZOO COUNTRY CLUB 

OAKWOOD PARK 

WHITE'S LAKE 

Take Oakland Drive Cars 

NAZARETH ACADEMY 
Out Gull Road 

BRONSON PARK 
Center of City 

MILHAM PARK 
Out Portage Street 

SHERWOOD PARK 
East Main Street 

CELERY FIELDS 
South Burdick Street 
West North Street 

ST. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH 
Kalamazoo Ave. and Park Street 



GULL LAKE 
M. U. T. Cars 

RIVERVIEW BASEBALL PARK 

RECREATION PARK, TRACK. 
AND FAIR GROUNDS 

Take Washington Ave. Cars 

REGALIA FACTORIES 

STOVE FACTORY 

GAS LAMP FACTORIES 

In various sections of the city 

MANDOLIN FACTORY 

FISHING ROD FACTORY 

PAPER MILLS 

PLAYING CARD FACTORIES 

PEPPERMINT FARMS 
Out Ravine Road 

GRAPE VINEYARDS 

Southwest of city 

BEAUTIFUL DRIVES 

To neighboring lakes in every direction 



21 




Henderson Park 
A Five-Year Old Residence Addition 



Ealamajoo in a i^utsljell 

KALAMAZOO 

was settled in 1829, incorporated as a village in 1853, and as a city in 
1884, when the population was about 15,000. The federal census of 1900 
showed 24,404 inhabitants, and in 1910, 39,437, an increase of more than 
63 per cent in ten years. On this basis of growth, the Kalamazoo of 1912 
has nearly 

50,000 POPULATION. 

Its eight and a half square miles of area is divided into five wards, and the 
property is assessed on the 60 per cent basis at $24,000,000. The city 
charter allows as a maximum the 

ONE PER CENT TAX RATE, 

which provides, among other things, for the maintenance of a police force of 
forty men and fifty firemen in six fully equipped fire stations. There are 22 

miles of brick and as- 
phalt pavement and 
1 1 8 miles of streets 
otherwise improved. 

ABSOLUTELY 
PURE WATER 

is furnished by a $500,- 
G"" Lake QOO municipal water- 

works of 7,500,000 gallons' daily capacity, with three new water towers and 
75 miles of mains; there are 60 miles or sanitary sewers and 18 miles of 
storm sewers. 




11 




Henderson-Ames Co 



West Main Street 



New Y. M. C. A. 



CITY HOSPITALS 

are maintained both for tubercular and contagious diseases, two other hos- 
pitals under other auspices, and two sanitariums. The birth rate is 20. 1 2 and 
the death rate 1 1.57 per cent. 

SEVEN CITY PARKS 

include more than 85 acres, and are reinforced by 255 acres of parking sur- 
rounding the state hospital, normal, and other educational institutions. Several 
well-equipped playgrounds are maintained, and boulevards are being developed 
along a comprehensive plan, which includes beautifying the river front. 

MODERN SCHOOL SYSTEM 

with central and three branch high schools; manual training and vocational 
schools; eleven grade schools; athletic fields and playgrounds in connection; 
220 teachers, 6,300 students. Two Holland parochial schools. 



CATHOLIC INSTITU- 
TIONS 

include five parochial schools, 
high school for both sexes in 
Gibbons' Hall; Le Fevre In- 
stitute; Nazareth Academy 
for girls; Barbour Hall for 
boys; St. Anthony's School 
for the feeble minded, and 
Borgess Hospital. 




Van Deusen Library 



23 




Business Distrli 



HIGHER EDUCATION 

is at hand in Kalamazoo College, the oldest in Michigan, and the Western 
State Normal School, a new million-dollar institution. There are three busi- 
ness colleges and two art schools. The public library, with five branches, and 
the Ladies' Library Association supply the public. 

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES 

are centered in 42 churches and five missions, representing every denomina- 
tion; Y. M. C. A. carries on its work in a $100,000 building; flourishing 
Y. W. C. A.; organized bureau of charities. Not a "slum" or tenement dis- 
trict in the city. 

48 FRATERNAL ORDERS 

are represented, several owning imposing homes of their own; three down- 
town clubs, two up-to-date country clubs; a legion of patriotic and social 
organizations; two companies of militia ownmg $70,000 armory. 

456 LAKES 

within a radius of 50 miles, spring-fed and swarming with bass and other 
game fish; innumerable trout streams furnish keenest sport; summer resorts 
loo numerous for mention. 

24 



thoiise Tower 



SPORTING FEATURES 

of Kalamazoo life are the annual harness meetings of the Grand Circuit, the 
Great Western and the Shortship Circuits; Southern Michigan League Base- 
ball ; amateur intercollegiate and interscholastic sports of all sorts ; ice yachting, 
skating, skeeing, and all winter sports are popular. 

TWENTY-TWO HOTELS 

render unexcelled service at various prices; 27 restaurants; two first-class and 
two vaudeville theaters; numerous vaudettes; fine amusement park; dozens of 
resorts nearby. 

SEVEN RAILROADS 

Michigan Central main line and South Haven division; Lake Shore & Michi- 
gan Southern; Grand Rapids & Indiana; Grand Trunk Railways; Chicago, 
Kalamazoo & Saginaw; Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago. Seventy-five 
passenger trains leave our five depots daily and two million tons of freight 
are handled annually in eleven freight depots. 

FAST ELECTRIC SERVICE 

to the neighboring resorts and all cities as far east as Detroit, is furnished by 
the Michigan United Traction Company, and to every part of the city by 

25 




The South Side — Ten Years Ago a Farm 



eleven lines, aggregating 25 miles. Interurbans to the west and north are 
under construction. 

ELECTRIC POWER 

generated at Kalamazoo River dams of the Commonwealth Electric Com- 
pany, is furnished as cheap as 1 cent per K. W. hour; 25,000 H. P. alter- 
nating current available; 6,000 H. P. steam plant for emergencies. 

OTHER PUBLIC UTILITIES 

are well developed: gas company with modern plant and 75 miles of mains; 
four express companies, two telegraph lines, two L. D. telephone companies, 
6,500 local phones; two daily newspapers, seven weeklies, four monthlies. 



FOUR BANKS, 



two under state and two under federal 




Kalamazoo College 



com- 



bankmg laws, have a 
bmed capital and surplus o 
$1,441,000, and resources of 
$17,000,000. Not a smgle 
failure of national or state 
banks in Kalamazoo on record. 
Bank clearings in 191 1 were 
$35,664,276. Three building 
and loan associations. Postal 
receipts, 1911, $250,000; 
money-order business more than 
a million ; 1 substations, 34 
carriers, 12 rural routes. 



26 




Seminary Buildings 



MERCANTILE INTERESTS 

are tremendously prosperous with a market among a buying population of 
300,000 ; 1 26 incorporated firms, many partnerships ; 1 1 1 grocers, 40 meat 
dealers, 25 drug stores. 

JOBBERS AND WHOLESALERS 

rank Kalamazoo as the center of Southwestern Michigan, there being two 
grocers, four paper houses, four fruit jobbers, thirty celery and produce job- 
bers, two grain firms. Large firms deal in hardware, sporting goods, fishing 
tackle. 

230 STATE-INSPECTED FACTORIES 

employ a total of 1 1 ,000 hands, with an aggregate daily 
pay-roll of $25,000; 8,000 males at $2.41 per day and 
3,000 females at $1.24 per 
day average. $16,000,000 in- 
vested in local factories and 
annual output is valued at 
$26,000,000. 

Recreation Park Fair GrojaJs 




27 




Kalamazoo River at Gull Street 
Bronson Park— A Downtown breathing Spot 

28 




Other things being equal, we are satisfied that the man seeking a home, 
with a business career in mind, will not fail to appreciate the value that beauty 
gives to a city in which to live and prosecute any line of undertaking. We 
who reside here think that as a beautiful city, Kalamazoo stands without a 
parallel, for one of her size, in the United States. There are many beautiful 
parks scattered in the various parts of the city, well cared for at all times. 
Seven of these, covering more than 85 acres, are maintained by the city. 
The various state and educational insti- 
tutions within the city add 225 acres 
more. Development of connecting bou- 
levards and parkways is being followed 
out along a comprehensive plan, which 
is being pushed to completion by an 
energetic Park Commission. The first 
stretch of this boulevard will soon be 
under construction, connecting the 
various parks of the south and south- 
western section of the city. Play- 
grounds are maintained throughout the 
summer season under the direction of 
the Board of Education, Kalamazoo being one of the first cities of the West 
to take up this phase of municipal development. 

After all it must be accepted that there is no product of civilization so 
precious as the home. A city that by inspiration calls into existence HOMES, 
with their attending sacredness, cleanliness and comforts, is greater than a 
city producing only wares and merchandise; is grander than a city made 
up of banks and stock exchanges; is more to be lauded than a city of many 
roads and busy traffic. Kalamazoo is peculiarly a city of homes, — homes 
varying in cost from the modest cottage of the laborer to the palatial house 
of the wealthy manufacturer. The principal residential streets are lined on 
both sides with rows of gigantic oaks, elms, or maples and the citizens take 
such pride in keepmg up their lawns and gardens that the whole city becomes 
as a beautiful park. Bright, cheerful places of residence located on broad 
streets and shady avenues, extending in every direction, make a pleasing 
impression on the eye. There are no "slums" in Kalamazoo; no dark can- 
yons of streets in all its eight square miles. While these characteristics have 
more to do with the esthetic nature of the people than with the material 
interests, their value cannot be depreciated in considering why Kalamazoo 
is a good town in which to live. 

29 




30 




Borgess Hospital 



Bronson Hospital 



One thing of primary importance is the general health of a city; Michi- 
gan's climate is too well known to require any detailed description. Kala- 
mazoo is situated in one of its most beautiful sections, and the summer and 
winter alike are enjoyable. Nowhere is purer water found than is furnished 
in Kalamazoo; a competent force of officials are constantly on the alert to 
safeguard the public health. A Tuberculosis Sanitarium and a Contagious 
Disease Hospital are among the modern conveniences maintained by the city. 
There are two excellent hospitals and numerous private sanitariums, while 
on the outskirts of the city is located the Kalamazoo State Hospital, a small 
city in itself. More than 2,000 patients are housed here with a small army 
of doctors, nurses, etc., in attendance. 

There is a third consideration in seeking a home — a consideration which is 
held in higher esteem in this country than any other in the world, and that 
is the one of educational facilities. In nothing is Kalamazoo richer, more 
replete or more widely influential than in her numerous and excellent schools 
and colleges. 

31 




New Central High School 



Kalamazoo's public school system mcludes a central and two branch 
high schools, a manual training school and a vocational or continuation school. 
1912 will witness the completion of a new $200,000 high school building. 
Distributed advantageously in every part of the city are eleven fine grade 
schools, the combined value of the public school properties exceeding a million 
dollars. Nearly 7,000 students are in attendance and a corps of 220 teachers 
is employed. 

Of the five parochial schools, two are maintained by the Holland churches 
and the remainder are under Catholic auspices. Gibbons' Hall, the boys' 
high school of this denomination, offers business courses and collegiate work 
in addition to the regular high school curriculum, while the same courses for 
young ladies are provided at LeFevre Institute. Just outside the city in a 
beautiful park stands Nazareth Academy, a boarding school for girls con- 










'*m^- 



Nazareth Academy 

32 



ducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Though estabhshed only 1 5 years ago, 
the Academy has been very successful and there are several hundred students 
m attendance. Barbour Hall, a boarding-school for little boys under the same 
auspices occupies a part of 
the same grounds, which are 
more than 300 acres in ex- 
tent. Thirty-five acres are 
parking, and there is a pretty 
lake and other surroundings 
of great natural beauty, 
which make the institution 
well worthy of a visit. 

Kalamazoo has two 
schools where feeble-minded East Avenue Schooi 

children may receive the kindly attention they so much need and where they 
are taught the simple things they are capable of learning. The Wilbur Home 
is located on the western edge of the city, while St. Anthony's Home, con- 
ducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph, is to the eastward on the Comstock road. 





Milham Park 



33 




Western Michigan Normal School 



Dominating every vista toward the western end of the city by reason of 
its commanding location overlooking the valley, the Western Michigan Normal 
School is Kalamazoo's greatest institution from the architectural as well as 
the educational standpoint. The great sweep of its eastern front, with its 
grand porticos of classic pillars, and the panorama of the city spread before, 
combine to form an impression never-to-be-forgotten by those who behold it. 
The Normal was established by the state in 1904 and last year had a total 
enrollment of more than 1 ,200 students. A thoroughly trained faculty is in 
charge of the courses of instruction, which include manual training, domestic 
art and science, music, kindergarten, and public school art. Nearly a thousand 
students annually attend the summer sessions, and the expense in securing an 
education here is extremely moderate. 

Less than a half mile distant is Kalamazoo College, picturesquely sit- 
uated among the fine old trees on College Hill and surrounded by a park 
of 27 acres. In front lies a small lake, the scene of many student pranks, 
and the college athletic field, with football gridiron, ball diamond, cinder 
track, and tennis court. A fine gymnasium is being erected during the summer 

34 




Kalamazoo College Campus 

vacation. Kalamazoo College is the oldest in the state, and offers the com- 
plete college courses of study under a faculty of acknowledged prominence. 
Dormitory accommodations are provided for both sexes, and the college is 
conducted under the auspices of the Baptist denomination. 




Parsons' Business College 

Parsons' Business College heads the list of three institutions of this char- 
acter in Kalamazoo, and is unusually well located in the most beautiful resi- 
dence section of the city, just outside the business district. Its reputation is 
well established and its courses so thorough that the graduates find positions 
without difficulty. Students of mechanical and architectural drawing and 
commercial art find in Lockwood's Art School one of the best known insti- 
tutions of its class in the Central West. 

No father or mother, seeking a home city in which to rear a family, can 
ignore the richness of Kalamazoo's endowment in these educational institutions. 
It is desirable that our children have every advantage of higher education, but 
to be so situated that these advantages can be enjoyed without depriving them 
of that precious home influence, — that is Kalamazoo's blessed opportunity. 

35 




36 




As might be expected in a center of education and culture, religious 
activity fills a vital place in Kalamazoo's social fabric, and every denomination 
is represented by powerful churches. The broad viewpoint of the leading 
divines has had the happy 
result of cementing cordial 
relationships, despite creedal 
differences, and as far as 
church relations are con- 
cerned, we have in Kala- 
mazoo a foretaste of "peace 
on earth and good-will 
among men." Up-to-date 
methods of church work are 
employed, several of the 
churches have handsome 
guild houses in connection, 
one serves an evening meal 
to working girls, and resuTts L"'*'"" ^''^''''' Association 

are secured which demonstrates the wisdom of a practical handling of the 
church problems. 

Successful work is carried along by the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion, which has just occupied a new $100,000 home built by popular sub- 
scription to replace one burned a year ago. Two floors are given over entirely 
to dormitories, while other floors are used for gymnasium, swimming pool, 
and similar activities common to such organizations. The Young Women s 
Christian Association is conducting a similar work, and is contemplating the 
erection of a fine building on property recently purchased in the heart of the 
business district. 

In addition to the care which churches and fraternal orders give to needy 
and helpless members, an organized bureau of charities is conducted by the 
Civic Improvement League, employing a professional secretary of wide ex- 
perience. Visiting nurses are maintained, and a novel feature is a travelling 
agent of the Savings Fund department. A woodyard is operated during the 
winter months to furnish work for the unemployed. The Salvation Army 
and kindred organizations carry on a similar work. 



37 




Kalamazoo State Hospital 

38 




Oakwood Park 



Representing as it does every diverse interest of the city, the Commercial 
Club stands foremost in the list of Kalamazoo's organizations and has done 
much in its avowed purpose "to promote the civic, industrial, and commercial 
interests of Kalamazoo and Southwestern Michigan". It was organized 
in 1 904, now has a large and influential membership, and carries on its work 
mainly through committees. A paid secretary and assistant are in charge of 
its work and downtown offices are maintained where meetings of all "booster" 
organizations are held. The club's slogan of "In Kalamazoo We Do" is 
known everywhere. 

Organizations without number are at work in special fields, the Anti- 
Tuberculosis Association cind the Civic Improvement Association among the 
foremost. Institutions such as the Boys' Farm and the Children's Home (for 
girls) are conducted by efficient boards. 

Physicians of the city are organized in the Academy of Medicine, which 
has handsome quarters in the public library and a permanent endowment as 
well. Other organizations of fellowship and cooperation exist among the law- 
yers, dentists, various classes of merchants, forming a closely united framework 
for the business life of the city. 

% 39 




Presbyterian Church 



Library 



Park Club 



It must not be inferred that Kalamazoo is at all lacking in that other 
metropolitan facility, the "Club". Three organizations of purely social char- 
acter maintain well equipped homes in the business district, the Park Club 
being the most pretentious and numbering among its members many of the 
most well-to-do residents. Practically all the fraternal orders are represented 
in Kalamazoo, and many of them have fine clubrooms. Notably commodious 
are the club houses owned by the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, a $1 00,000 
temple is under way for the Masonic bodies, and the Odd Fellows are prepar- 
ing to build. 




Pythian Castle 

40 




White's Lake and Kalamazoo Country Club 



Kalamazoo is fortunate in having two finely equipped country clubs, 
the Kalamazoo Country Club being located on beautiful White's Lake, on 
the southwesterly outskirts of the city. Golf and tennis are the summer sports, 
while tobogganing, skeeing and kindred amusements are popular during the 
winter months. The Gull Lake Country Club, while less accessible, has a 
membership made up almost entirely of Kalamazoo people with summer homes 
along that beautiful expanse of water, and boasts of a fine golf course. 

The Gull Lake Club has just completed an $18,000 clubhouse; that of 
the Kalamazoo Club cost about $25,000; and every modern feature of club 
life is provided. The golf courses are unrivalled in scenic beauties, and are 
maintained under the direction of professionals of national fame. 




Gull Lake from the Country Club 



41 




Lover's Lane at Gull Lake 



In fact, amusement of any description is not hard to find in and about 
Kalamazoo, the many theaters, clubs, and varied social life making the winter 
a lively season. But it is in the warm months that Kalamazoo is in her glory 
as an amusement center. Almost half a thousand lakes within a radius of 
fifty miles, 1 1 7 within Kalamazoo County itself, all of them spring-fed and 
teeming with game fish, — streams stocked with speckled beauties, a veritable 
paradise for the sportsman. All the life of the summer resort along the larger 
lakes, with their hotels, pavilions, and rows of cottages; "the simple life" on 
those of smaller size or less accessible. Michigan in Summer, — a phrase 
brimful of the happiness of "real" living. 

It would be impossible to undertake here an enumeration of the attrac- 
tions and distractions at the convenience of the residents of Kalamazoo; just 
a few in passing : 

Inter-Collegiate sports of all sorts, foot ball, base ball, track tennis and 
basket ball, provide a continuous program the year round. Golf and tennis 
at the Country Clubs. 

42 




Grand Circuit Meeting 

at Recreation Park 



League Base Ball at Riverview Park between teams of the Southern 
Michigan Association, in which Kalamazoo won the pennant in 1910 and 

1911. 

The Grand Circuit, Great Western, Michigan Shortship, and Interstate 
Fair harness races; matinee races winter and summer by Kalamazoo Driving 
Club members. 

This is also a great section for stock raising, and the lovers of horseflesh 
are found m as great numbers as in Old Kaintuck. Here the breeding and 
training of harness horses is the amusement of every ruralist as well as the 
city resident, and the popularity of the harness sport is evidenced by the hold- 
mg of four meetmgs of the Grand Circuit in this state, as well as countless 
paces at fairs and lesser circuits. 

Varied farm products and the many others of every description form the 
bulk of exhibits at the annual Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana 
Inter-State Fair, which attracts immense crowds to the Fair Grounds at 
Recreation Park during early autumn. 



43 



There was a time when the mere mention of Kalamazoo brought to its 
hearers almost instantly the thought "Celery Town." The city's fame in 
the growth of this succulent product of the garden was world-wide, and while 
other sections are now in the field as heavy producers, "Kalamazoo Celery" 
means the best on the market. During the season which extends from August 
1 st to December 1 st, the shipments of celery alone average seventy tons a day, 
and a mark of 203 tons in a single day has been reached. These shipments 
are entirely by express, and the charges amount to double the value of the 
celery which is more than a million dollars. There are more than 500 acres 
of celery land in the city, tilled by the hardy Dutch stock seasoned by cen- 
turies of intensive farming. 

Peppermint is another crop in which Kalamazoo leads the world, 60 
per cent of the production of peppermint oil being made in a single factory 
in Kalamazoo. 

Garden truck of every sort, gensing and all varieties of small fruits, are 
raised in the immediate vicinity, and the value of the crops runs into many 
millions of dollars. 



*'***°99)VB*9'VWS!*'f|> 









"Celery 
Town" 













44 




New State Armory 

The story of Kalamazoo has been but illy told when its past and present 
attainments alone have been recounted. The feature of this fast growing city 
presents in itself an extended and inspiring theme ; a fitting sequel to this story 
of present day achievement. In the list of public improvements for which 
Kalamazoo is now preparing, are the following : The development of a com- 
plete park and boulevard system, the elevation of all railroad lines through 
the city and the erection of a union depot; the completion of a new municipal 
electric lighting plant and the installation of ornamental lighting standards 
in the busmess district; several new bridges across the river and the parking 
of its banks through the city. The erection of a combmed city hall, county 
building and municipal auditorium. Work is being pushed along these lines 
and with the spirit characteristic of Kalamazoo the completion of these will 
mark the inauguration of still more movements for municipal advancement. 




Proposed Combination Courthouse and City Hall 



45 



When one contemplates Kalamazoo's army of well paid and contented 
workers, — an army contmually swelled by the establishment of new plants, 
the mystery of Kalamazoo's commercial prosperity is solved. Where mer- 
chants know no "dull times ", no man walks her streets in idleness as a non- 
producer and a burden on the tax payer, through inability to obtain remuner- 
ative employment should he honestly desire it. 

In these evidences of civic enterprise, of "push " and "hustle ", of deter- 
mination to secure educational and residential advantages is the promise of the 
greater Kalamazoo; in what has already been accomplished along every line 
of municipal improvement is 

THE LURE OF KALAMAZOO 




Further information may be secured from the Secretary 

THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN 
46 



IHLING BROS. EVERARD CO. 
ENGRAVERS AND PRINTERS 
KALAMAZOO. MICHIGAN 



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kauamazoo. - mich. 



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